Cerity Partners LLC Takes Position in American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO)

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 39,494 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 380.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,325 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 258.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,045 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in American Eagle Outfitters by 38.7% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,173 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of American Eagle Outfitters in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Cfra Research downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on American Eagle Outfitters to $12.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, American Eagle Outfitters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.70.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEO opened at $11.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.06. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.27 and a 52-week high of $22.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.45.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The apparel retailer reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.08 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 3.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

American Eagle Outfitters Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.02%.

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a multi-brand specialty retailer in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men under the American Eagle brand; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections under the Aerie and OFFLINE by Aerie brands.